KINDERGARTEN

Reid Traditional Schools’ Valley Academy kindergarten students enjoy great academic success due to a strong curriculum and a kind, nurturing environment. Half-Day kindergarten is state funded, and it runs from 8:00 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. All-Day kindergarten is available for a fee, and class ends at 3:15 p.m.

The atmosphere in kindergarten class is structured and organized. Students sit at desks, not tables, and earn real grades on real report cards. They are treated like students, so an excitement about learning and academic achievement is instilled early.

Kindergarten is also a time for excitement and memory making. Age-appropriate hands-on activities supplement the curriculum and maintain interest as they expand learning. Our kindergarten students enjoy their own play structure, games, and a sandbox area at recess.

KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM OVERVIEW:

Language Arts

The Spalding Writing Road to Reading phonics program is the cornerstone of our curriculum. Kindergarten students master all 70 phonograms in both written and oral practice. The understanding of phonograms lays the foundation to spelling and reading. Our students expand their vocabulary by making good oral sentences. Spelling tests begin in the second quarter, and the skill of sentence dictation is added in the fourth quarter. The Spalding Method also includes clear instruction for handwriting.

Reading

By the end of the school year, Reid Traditional Schools’ Valley Academy kindergarten students can read. By the third quarter, students read weekly books in class, with a home reading program required in the fourth quarter. They begin learning to distinguish fact from fiction, as well as to identify character, setting, plot, problems, and resolutions. An appreciation of literature and poetry is also imparted. Kindergarteners memorize and recite short selections of poetry. Two examples of these poems are “Treasures” by R. L. Stevenson and “Wind” by Christina Rossetti.

Math

Reid Traditional Schools’ Valley Academy uses the Saxon math curriculum plus supplemental activities. Math begins with supportive manipulatives and moves on to concepts and skills with sufficient practice and understanding. Students can count and write to 100 by ones, twos, fives, and tens. Students become familiar with the addition and subtraction combinations to 10 and the concepts of halves and symmetry. They are introduced to basic geometry, measuring time, length, and weight. Kindergarteners practice patterning, ordinals, and become accustomed to story problems for mental math.

All this is achieved through repetitive practice and kind corrections in a nurturing, gentle environment.

Our kindergarten teachers tell their students, “With my help, you can do this.” And our students believe them.